I Am Become Death, a Cold War Spy Thriller Human AU
by drunkrobot
Summary: It is 1946. Ms. Perry, a scientist working at Los Alamos, is trying to leak documents of a new superweapon to the USSR. Agent LAPIS is there to make sure she succeeds. As an Iron Curtain descends upon the world, can they make it out in time, and with their lives? (Story concept not mine, link to original creator in first chapter.)
1. Chapter 1

_First off, a link to the excellent Soviet Spies webcomic by the brilliant RomanImp. While this fic makes slight adjustments to the setting, full credit does go to Roman, this is merely my best attempt to put such amazing art into word format._

 _post/150616433414/lapidot-soviet-spies-au-masterpost_

* * *

 **1940**

The noise on the beach, the screaming of men and women, the boom of artillery, the roar of planes in the sky and the constant crashing of the sea, all fell to the background behind the immutable ringing.

Corporal Perry surprised herself when she started taking breaths again. She felt that her body was shaking, in a way that she couldn't find a way to stop, which helped to break her attempts to breathe in a slow, regular timing. A corner of her mind posed the suggestion that the Germans had made it to the beach, and were mowing down the exhausted remnants of the army trapped in the pocket around Dunkirk. With that suggestion noted, Perry did her best to avoid moving, keeping her gaze up at the cloudy sky. She managed to spot the silhouette of a fight plane, one that she thought, or hoped, had the curves of a Spitfire, reassuring her to at least turn her head.

To her right was what seemed to be an armada of every ship and boat docked in the South of England, rushing to pack as many troops, many not even having their rifles or helmets, onto their decks as they could. Her breathing slowed down again, it seemed like she was still going to make it out of France.

Pure shock seemed to be subsiding, and Perry began to feel something in her left leg, a kind of hypersensitivity. Aching to face to her left, towards the land, she had not be ready to accept what she saw.

The sand before her, already churned by the feet of thousands of British troops, had been scarred by a blackened crater. Surrounding it were bodies, covered in khaki and soaked in crimson red, lifeless remains of part of her battalion. And right at the each of her vision, looking down, she found the source of the steadily increasing pain in her leg. It too was mangled and soaked red, a pool of blood beginning to seep into the sand. Instinctively, she tried to twitch it, but while her right dutiflly kicked into the air, her left didn't budge.

"Hold on! We have an alive one!"

The ringing slowly gave way to the noise of the surrounding chaos, as if reality, chasing her, was beginning to catch up. She heard the footsteps of soldiers, medics it seemed, beginning to crowd around her, she heard them talking and working through putting her on a litter, and she heard the growl of the diesel engine of the tiny fishing boat she was put into.

But most of all, she heard her own screaming.

* * *

After a few attempts to distract herself with a pulp sci-fi magazine, she was almost relieved at the knowledge she was going to receive a visitor. It couldn't have been anybody she knew, her family was on the other side of the Atlantic and all of her University friends were still officially on duty.

Either that, or they were captured or dead in France.

"Here is Corporal Perry for you, Sir.", said the nurse, entering with an older gentleman in a blue suit. A brown mustache on a wrinkled oval face made up for a short of hair on the top of his head.

"Thank you, I wish to speak with her in private." replied the man, making sure the nurse closed the door to the room behind her. He slowly walked towards and took the seat beside the bed, seeming to make an effort to not look at the bandaged stump of a leg hanging in front of him.

"Good day to you, Corporal, I am Doctor Henry Blackett, I come from...well, I come from a very new and rather important institution that wishes to make use of your service."

Olivia Perry took off her glasses to pinch her small, sharp nose in frustration. "Whatever you want, I'm useless to you." she said, in an accent that surprised Blackett.

"I suppose you are a Canadian, then?", he asked.

"Toronto. I was studying in Liverpool when the draft was issued."

Blackett seemed pleased at the explanation, "That's what I'm here for. You had been doing a dissertation on the separation of isotopes, correct?"

Despite herself, she slightly blushed at the mention of her work. "Yes. I've worked in the lab with James Chadwick himself." A slight feeling of suspense began to fill in as she took in Blackett's words, "Wait, how it you get hold of my dissertation?"

Quietly laughing to himself, Blackett tried to calm her "No need to worry about that. So, I imagine you fancy yourself as possessing an in-depth knowledge of the latest of physics, then?"

Rubbing her head full of messy blonde hair, Perry started feeling butterflies in her stomach, "Well, I've yet to finish my degree, but I've received quite the praise from those I've assisted in the lab." Almost since the declaration of war, this had been the first time for Perry to open up and discuss her expertise. "I would think I'd graduate around…" an awful feeling sunk in, "a few months ago, if the war hadn't happened."

Blackett seemed to have some sympathy for Perry, rubbing his mustache with a look of consideration. "Well, I'm hear to offer you a chance to do your bit, in a way that plays to your strengths. I know, you have already gave so much to your country, but we need everyone to fulfill their duty, now more than ever."

Perry scoffed, "I'm sorry, but how could I help anyone with anything? What practical use is there to my fie-", cutting her own speech, digging deep into her mind for a wild flght of fancy, before backstepping,"no, no, it's impossible…"

"What is?"

Perry stammered attempting to form an explanation, "It's been theorised you could take what Einstein discovered with his mass-energy equivalence formula and apply it to provide a new source of heat, many millions of times more efficient for a given weight of fuel than coal. But it would take decades of work…"

"You would be surprised at what can be mobilised in wartime, Ms. Perry."

Perry seemed to start questioning the sanity of the man before her, "But there is still a war going on! A war we are losing right now!"

Blackett took a deep breath, apparently reminded at the tense reality facing them both. "True. We are facing a vile enemy, with no unoccupied allies, in a total war which may very well kill more citizens of our empire than the last war did. It may even last another ten years. It might end with our defeat, and Europes enslavement. But that doesn't have to happen. Not if we had something that the Germans didn't."

Perry felt tempted to ask him what he meant, but she already had a good idea, and she didn't think he would tell her unless she said yes. He probably wasn't even allowed to.

"Alright, Doctor, I'll accept your offer. It's not like I could be of any use on the battlefield."

Finally looking at her leg, stopping just below her knee, Blackett gave a smile, "Be grateful that you chose something academic like Physics to be your passion in life" her reassured her, lifting his right trouser leg to reveal a metal tube sticking out from his shoe and socks. "1916. It didn't stop me."


	2. Chapter 2

**1941**

Finally catching her breath, Perry turned towards the duffel bag beside her, pulling out a small towel to begin drying herself off.

"Do you think you could skip your runs when it's raining?" asked Sofie R. Garnet, a tall, dark-skinned woman that contrasted starkly with the damp, short and pale Perry. Garnet calmly sipped her morning tea while the smaller woman finished running the towel through her soaked hair, leaving a mess that she didn't seem bothered to tame. Compared to Perry, who in her once barely-used university sportswear was rather underdressed for a British Summer, Garnet's black slacks and maroon blouse, along with her Anglican accent, seemed to fit her into Britain more than her Canadian coworker. Glenn Miller played quietly on the radio in the corner of their lunch room, already filled with smoke from researchers and assistants coming in and going out for their breakfast.

"It helps me to clear my head, to wake up for work." Perry defended, taking a sip of her own cup once she put the towel back into her bag. "Plus I have half a leg to make up the difference on.", she added, fidgeting with the upper half of her prosthetic to ease where it was too tight.

Garnet gave a quiet chuckle. "I never would've taken you to be an athletic type."

"Well, if Hitler's going to keep sinking all the coffee sent over the Atlantic, I've just gotta make do." Perry paused while she allowed her breathing to settle. "Anyway, heard anything from the Management?"

Garnet thought carefully as she enjoyed a bite from her sandwich, answering in a more hushed tone of voice, "I've heard word of more of us being sent over to Canada. It's not just pencils and paper now, Perry, we're actually building this thing."

Perry set the cup down onto the table. "Good.", she replied, before pulling out a copy of _Amazing Stories_.

"Perry", asked Garnet, "Do you ever get...doubts, about our work?"

The shorter woman seemed puzzled by this, "Well, I don't think so, Gas-Diffusion Separation seems to be the simplest and cheapest way to-"

"I don't mean in that way, Olivia, I mean...morally speaking. Are all bets really off, here?"

Perry pushed her glasses back up to the top of her nose, "We left discussion of a fair fight behind when the Germans started bombing and shooting civilians, Sofie, along with whatever else they're doing to them right now. The only reason they're not dropping gas on us is because we could do the same to them, if not more so. All that matters now is ending the war, with Europe free. If we have to drop ten bombs to do that, then so be it."

"Oh, we have to beat the Axis, I know that" explained Garnet, absentmindedly wiping her lab goggles with her napkin, "But you have to think of the future. We might have the moral high ground to Germany, but anyone can see how desperately Britain is holding on to the empire. We need someone like Churchill right now, but would he ready to respect a weapon this powerful?"

"Irrelevant.", Perry dismissed Garnet, "For now the only two countries taking the Bomb seriously is Britain and Germany. Churchill might be practically Victorian, but he ain't no Hitler. How else are we gonna-"

"Change it! Change the radio!", cried a voice from the bar, the noise of the lunchroom cutting out. Soon, somebody had made their way to the old wooden set and changed Glenn Miller over to a much more sober BBC broadcast.

 _-we can confirm beyond all doubt that German units are now crossing their border into Russia. The British Embassy in Moscow reports some level of disorder in the capital, as what increasingly appears to be a hostile action from Germany continues to unfold. The Prime Minister is to address the House of Commons this afternoon-_

The noise throughout the lunchroom grew back as patrons took in the implication of the broadcast. After nearly two years of semi-alliance, the deal between devils seemed to have fallen through.

"Jesus. Who made the first attack?", asked Garnet, covering her mouth in shock.

"Does it matter?", Perry counter-asked, rhetorically it seemed. A devilish smile crept onto her face as she brought her tea back up to her mouth, "The Germans are fighting somebody their own size at last. No more fighting alone for us."

"Wait.", Garnet requested, holding up her hand to gesture a slowdown of thought, "They were our enemies too before now, you're thinking of treating them like allies?"

Taking another sip, disappointed that it's already cold, Perry shrugged, "History's largest empire, and the world's first socialist state? Strange bedfellows, I'll admit. But take it from me, nobody likes a bully."


	3. Chapter 3

**1942**

For uncountable miles around the airfield, the Russian steppe was layered in brilliant white snow, reflecting the rather feeble Sun hanging low in the morning sky. Learning from the painful lessons of the last six months, the ancient Polikarpov Po-2s that equipped the regiment were scattered across the grounds and often were covered from view from the air, but near to the main hut of the airfield, roughly 20 women, all in uniform, stood in line at attention. Only fog from the chill of winter gave evidence to their breathing, not moving a muscle as their commander, Yevdokia Bershanskaya, greeted them.

"Pilots! Navigators! Not too far from here, over these last few months, your Comrades-in-Arms have brought a halt to the Hitlerite Beast! Germany's armies have trampled their boots through our beloved home, arrogant in their supposed destiny to conquer our people and extinguish our Revolution! But, they had overstepped themselves. For just as they thought they had finally saw the end of our vast land, the last gasp of our infinite will to survive, we had overwhelmed them in a counterattack across the entire front line, sending them back into their burrows to freeze to death!"

Cheers erupted from the aircraft crews standing before her, upstaging the howl of the bleak winds.

"But, while our Motherland has been good in teaching our enemy a lesson in respect, such lessons are quickly forgotten by the Fascist. Spring is coming, and with it they will emerge from their holes and begin their conquest anew! But this is a new year, Comrades! We have learned the terms of the game the Germans wish to play with us, and we shall be ready for whenever and wherever they will strike! For we are the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, and wherever a German marches forward into our Motherland, deluded into believing the darkness to be his cover, it shall be us who will strike him down!"

Another cheer bellowed from the crews. Bershanskaya had her eye caught by one crewwoman, a pilot it seemed, taller than average, shoulder-length black hair and a complexion of light tan, possibly with some Central Asian heritage. She stopped her stride and faced the junior officer, "Step forward, Pilot!"

Obeying, taking one step forward with a salute, the junior officer, likely in her early twenties, introduced herself, "Lieutenant Lagunovna, ready to fly in the defence of the Motherland!"

Bershanskaya saluted back, before offering the pilot a handshake, "Your accent, it sounds familiar to me. Where do you come from, Lieutenant?"

"A collective farm, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic!" answered Lagunovna, placing her hand down to her sides once done with the shake.

"You are Georgian? I too hail from the Caucasus. What were you doing before you became a pilot?"

It seemed that despite the freezing cold, Lagunovna was beginning to sweat under probing, "Studying at Saratov Technical School! Speciality in engines!"

Bershanskaya gave a good look-over the young pilot, before nodding in satisfaction. "You'll do well. Fall back, Lieutenant." She began her stride again, "Now, ladies! You will be fearless when you meet the foe! Your planes may be simple, but in simplicity you will find reliability! You will learn to trust your steed when you ride into battle-"

Lagunovna quietly sighed in relief. This war had already taken much from her, but soon she was going to enter it on her terms.

* * *

Perry tried to wipe her eyes, beginning to sting from the chalkdust. Reaching over for the chilled cup of tea sitting on the front table of the lecture hall, she admired the diagrams and formula she managed to sketch out onto the blackboards, ready for the presentation tomorrow.

"Good Evening." said Garnet, from the left entrance of the hall. "Wouldn't often see you in a place like this."

Turning to greet her, Perry grinned, "You wouldn't have seen me in here since university. Too much abstract stuff here. If you want to do Physics, do it in a lab.", she replied, raising her arms in a stretch after a long day. "Anyway, what are you still doing here?"

Garnet chuckled, "Carpool. Today it's you driving us home. Remember?"

"Oh." Perry's cheeks slightly reddened, "I forgot how I got here this morning. Anyway, I've only just got a few things to check, make sure they're all set for tomorrow, and-", her words trailed off as she realised that Garnet wasn't looking at her, but rather she seemed to be looking around the room itself. The smile was gone, replaced with a more blank, slightly sober face.

"I'll miss this place."

Garnets words left a nasty knot in Perry's stomach. They had long knew that the bulk of the program was going to be based on the other side of the Atlantic, even their remote old compound in the English countryside was vulnerable to German bombers, if they ever heard of its existence. "So what now? We're going to Montreal Labs?"

Garnet's eyes returned to her. "Not for us, I'm afraid. I've just heard from Management, we're keeping tight here for the rest of the year, then we're going to the United States. Chadwick's leading a mission to their own program, we're going to help get them set up and caught up with our work."

Perry's empty cup fell from her hands, her unable to speak from shock, "What, why?! They have the less advanced program, why can't they send their guys to what we've already built in Canada?!"

"Perry, please.", Garnet tried to speak over her, "If we knew the name of whoever made this decision, we'd be hanged."

"No!", continued Perry, "This is unacceptable! We're getting fleeced here!"

"Perry!", Garnet managing to silence Perry. "America has the money, the industry, the power we need for what we have to do. Getting all of the researchers into one huge site, wherever that would be, only makes sense to get the Bomb built as soon as possible."

Perry stamped around the room, kicking at the air with her prosthetic, "And I take it none of those researchers would be Russian?"

It was Garnet's turn to be dumbfounded, "What?"

"You know what. They're only taking us onboard because we're ahead of them. They'd be doing it on their own if we hadn't bothered with our program. It would be faster if the Soviets were in on it as well, but we can't have the commies getting the Bomb too, can we?"

"That is enough, Perry! You are talking about things you have no idea about. I recall you seemed to have no problem with the idea of Britain being the only one with the Bomb. What happened to that, Perry?"

Perry kept silent.

"Anyway, wherever this site is going to be, we're going to it, and we're staying there until we either build a Bomb, or lose the war."


End file.
